Orono mayoral candidate Bob Tunheim admitted to violating certain campaign laws, according to an order issued by an administrative law judge last week.
Assistant Chief Administrative Law Judge Kristien R. E. Butler wrote in his order that Tunheim failed to report an in-kind donation from a volunteer who purchased a campaign website domain name.
“At the probable cause hearing, Respondent stated that because the volunteer was not reimbursed until after the filing deadline for the initial Campaign Financial Report, the reimbursement would be reported as an expenditure in Respondent’s October 25, 2024, financial report,” Butler wrote.
“Although Respondent asserts Respondent will be in compliance with Minn. Stat. § 211A.02, subd. 2 in October after documenting the expenditure of campaign funds to reimburse the volunteer, that does not absolve Respondent from the requirement to include the website domain name as part of the total amount of contributions received in its initial Campaign Financial Report before the reimbursement could be made. Respondent’s failure to include the monetary value of the domain name in its initial Campaign Financial Report violated Minn. Stat. § 211A.02, subd. 2(4).”
Additionally, Butler said that Tunheim did not include the required disclaimer for campaign materials on his “website and Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube social media pages.”
“Although the lack of disclaimers was an oversight by Respondent that was quickly corrected, Respondent’s initial failure to include disclaimers violated Minn. Stat. § 211B.04,” Butler wrote.
“At the probable cause hearing, Respondent did not request a finding of default or for the Complaint to be dismissed. Instead, Respondent addressed the merits of the allegations and admitted to both violations,” he added. “Therefore, this matter will proceed to a Panel hearing to address the appropriate penalty for these violations as ordered.”
Tunheim has released multiple videos addressing the matter and accusing his opponent, incumbent Mayor Denny Walsh, of engaging in “bullying” tactics. In the videos, he said the initial complaint against him was filed by one of Walsh’s supporters, Victoria Seals, who was criticized by Judge Butler for failing to appear at last week’s hearing.
“This really represents the type of bullying behavior that we’ve seen for years from the current mayor and current council,” Tunheim said in a video response to the allegations. “It has to stop. Orono deserves better than this from its public officials.”
In another video, he said the complaints against him and two other candidates were “really all about harassing us, not trying to preserve the sanctity of the elections or anything like that.”
Tunheim said Seals could have reached out to him as a courtesy before filing the complaint.
The complaint comes amid an intense race between Tunheim, a business attorney and former Orono School Board chair, and incumbent Mayor Walsh, who has held the office since 2016.
While Walsh has taken a strong stance on “keeping free speech alive” at City Council meetings, he criticized Tunheim’s leadership on the Orono School Board, alleging that Tunheim limited public comment during contentious times. “When times got tough at public comments … I kept free speech alive and well & continued to let people talk,” Walsh stated, contrasting his approach with that of Tunheim, who he claims “canceled public comment.”
In response, Tunheim said that the school board, during his time as chair, “never shut down public comment” but moved to “listening sessions” to better accommodate the high number of speakers.
Tunheim, who chose not to seek reelection in 2022, concluded his time on the Orono School Board at the end of that year.
Hayley Feland
Hayley Feland previously worked as a journalist with The Minnesota Sun, The Wisconsin Daily Star, and The College Fix. She is a Minnesota native with a passion for politics and journalism.
